Pope urges respect for human rights

(ANSA) - Nay PyiTaw, November 28 - Pope Francis on Tuesday said Myanmar's future relies on a peace based on the respect for the dignity and rights of each individual and group but did not mention the country's Muslim Rohinga minority while addressing authorities and the diplomatic corps on Tuesday at the presidential palace in Nay Pyi Taw.
    The pontiff was sharing the stage with Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
    "The arduous process to build peace and national reconciliation can only advance through a commitment to justice and respect for human rights", the pope said, speaking after Aung San Suu Kyi.
    Justice, he said, is the "willingness to recognize what is due to everyone" and such beliefs have led to the creation of the UN and the Universal declaration of Human Rights.
    "Religious differences need not be a source of division and distrust, but rather a force for unity, forgiveness, tolerance and wise nation-building," the pontiff also said at one point.
    "The future of Myanmar must be peace, a peace based on the respect, dignity and rights of every member of society, on respect for each ethnic group and their identity, on respect for the rule of law and a democratic order enabling each individual and each group - nobody excluded - to offer their legitimate contribution to the common good".
    In other passages of his speech, Francis recalled the "deep divisions" and "domestic conflicts and hostilities that lasted too long".
    "Healing these wounds is a fundamental political and spiritual priority", the pope also said, stressing the country's efforts to restore peace and praising the government's work to "confront this challenge".
    Pope Francis' visit to Myanmar, where Catholics are a minority, comes after an exodus of over 620,000 Rohinga from Rakhine state to the southern tip of Bangladesh after a military crackdown that has prompted an international outcry.
    Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens or as members of a specific ethnic group.
    Diplomatic relations between the Vatican State and Myanmar were restored last May in the wake of elections geld in November 2015 that restored a fragile democracy, after which Aung San Suu Kyi met the pope at the Vatican.
    On Tuesday, Aung San Suu Kyi praised the "invaluable" role of the pontiff, with whom she met for 23 minutes in private, in supporting Myanmar's democracy.
    Francis is scheduled to travel to Bangladesh after Myanmar to meet with a small group of Rohingya refugees in a symbolic gesture.